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Thursday, October 21, 2010

If Juan Williams Cannot Speak Freely, Who Of Us Can?

Longtime NPR commentator Juan Williams was fired today for ... commenting.  Juan was speaking with Fox News host Bill O'Reilly when he made the following

"Well, actually, I hate to say this to you because I don’t want to get your ego going. But I think you’re right. I think, look, political correctness can lead to some kind of paralysis where you don’t address reality.

I mean, look, Bill, I’m not a bigot. You know the kind of books I’ve written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.

Now, I remember also that when the Times Square bomber was at court, I think this was just last week. He said the war with Muslims, America’s war is just beginning, first drop of blood. I don’t think there’s any way to get away from these facts."

That's an honest statement that reflects a natural human reaction to the events that have transpired.

Fired.

This is not a small thing. This is what is undermining our nation, and it's ubiquitous presence extending into our military is the kind of thinking that is destroying our ability to defend ourselves.

The whole notion that there are opinions that cannot be thought, much less expressed is the same one behind Ft. Hood commanders Lt. General Robert Cone declaring

"preliminary evidence did not suggest that the shooting was terrorism"

The Leutenant General's statement implies he is unable to interpret the significance of Nidal Malik Hasan shouting "Allah Akbar" as he shot down the commander's unarmed soldiers. This of course was followed by Cheif of Staff George Casey's reassurances that he understands what was truly at risk at Fort Hood when he stated

"And as horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casuality, I think that's worse"

Fortunately for the base personnel they had the services of little Kimmy Munley, who had the stones to shoot back at this SOB without worrying whether or not his feelings would be hurt, and without inquiring first as to the diverstiy that his presence on the base represented.

If General Casey had been sitting in the base infirmary as Major Hassan stood up to address his fellow servicemen and women, would the general be thinking the most important thing in his command was diversity in the military? When the NPR management officers take their place in the first class section of their next air trip, would they feel comforted to see Mohammed Atta sitting up in the front row of their flight?

More importantly, would they know that they still lived in a country where they were free to give voice to their thoughts and feelings?

8 comments:

  1. I think this and the Sanchez case reflect an out-of-control liberal culturem degenrating like the popes of the Renaissance. They just get worse.

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  2. This is a great post, Jim.

    That's an honest statement that reflects a natural human reaction to the events that have transpired.

    Even in the midst of firings and reprimands and sanctions for "racist rhetoric", "fear-mongering" and "hate speech", this stands as a surreal overreaction to an almost imaginary infraction. (Apparently, since Williams was a news analyst rather than commentator or columnist, he should not have voiced his "opinions". Personally, my take on it is that he analyzed the hell out of the news, and his uneasiness around fellow passengers in full Muslim garb is more of a reflection of his analytical conclusions than anything else.) Well, I guess he'd been fraternizing with the enemy altogether too much. You know, having open dialogs and all.

    We can only hope that it's so overt it will make it harder for anyone to remain blind to both the bias in the media and the increasingly outrageous efforts to stifle speech in all venues.

    That's an honest statement that reflects a natural human reaction to the events that have transpired.

    Why are so many media-people so determined to insist that everything is OK, and that you must be (racist, xenophobic, intolerant, etc.) to think otherwise? It goes beyond sticking to the party line -- it really does seem delusional. Why else not recognize that their loved ones as just as much in the line of fire as anyone else?

    Maybe it's not anything as alarming as mass psychosis. Maybe it's just the very reasonable fear of incurring the wrath of the extremist. Little Miss Atilla linked Matt Welch's very interesting Just Admit it, Newspapers: You're Scared of Muslims a week or so ago. And why wouldn't any rational people or organizations want to distance themselves from someone potentially making a target of himself? (Although I can't imagine that even the touchiest extremist would feel anything other than gratified to learn that Americans are worried, and quoting the Times Square bomber's bloody predictions.)

    Although I have noticed a significant increase in the use of the term "Quisling" -- all un-lovely nuances and connotations intact -- in the last six months or so.

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  3. Great stuff, Cathy.

    I should take advantage and give you a posting of your own!

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  4. honest statement that reflects a natural human reaction

    Exactly. And he even concluded--if you listen to the whole segment--that it is wrong to hold those thoughts given that most people in that group are innocents. What Williams did is the exact definition of what the Left espouses (critical self-reflection leading to a "rational" ideal.) What we are seeing is the Left in practice marching to its meme of the day in enforced perfect synchronicity--or else.

    Has the tide finally turned?

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  5. People are attempting to pass this off as NPR cleaning house, simplifying their presentation, and asserting that no outside fraternization with conservative news sources like Fox is allowed. That in itself is problematic, for Ted Koppel has deep ties to NBC, and both he and Cokie Roberts engage in work with other mainstream media sources that have a strong liberal bias. Thus NPR is clearly not as objective as they assert their 'News Analysts' must be.

    But it is more than that, as it all stems from a notion that Juan's thoughts were not acceptable to the 'hive'. It stinks, and NPR needs to be made aware of their own underlying moral bankruptcy.

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  6. If this leads to the permanent defunding of NPR, then it's all good!

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  7. As I said elsewhere, NPR shot themselves in the head with this one. The only question that remains is whether the bullet passed through and lodged in the Left's head. Now the the Fed gov't is working solely with borrowed dollars, how long can we continue to fund this most unnecessary institution? What is said on NPR that isn't already said elsewhere a million times?

    Btw, Ilion, I have a message for you on the "Zero Effect Open Thread."

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  8. "Btw, Ilion, I have a message for you on the "Zero Effect Open Thread.""

    Good thing you said someting here, since I haven't subscribed to that thread.

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